France offering 18 mirage fighters to Iraq
Iraq needs to build its air force: official
France has proposed to sell 18 Mirage fighters to Iraq, which is already negotiating a deal for U.S. F-16s to protect its skies after U.S. forces pull out at the end of this year, the French ambassador said on Thursday.
"France has proposed to sell 18 Mirage F1 retrofitted aircraft that can be delivered from late 2011 and immediately operational because many Iraqi pilots were trained in the past on this type of plane," Boris Boillon told AFP.
He said France was offering the multi-role planes for $1 billion (733 million euros).